


Hell hath no fury

by stereden



Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M, Scary Nanao, Underestimated Nanao, What would have happened if Nanao had been there, badass Nanao, hell hath no fury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-04-27 20:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5063392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stereden/pseuds/stereden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Than that of a loyal vice-captain left behind while her taicho fights. And when said taicho falls, to Hell with the captain-commanders orders: Ise Nanao is joining the battle.<br/>Or: the one where the fight against Aizen turns out very differently when the Eights fukutaicho decides that enough is enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heaven has no rage

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfic posted on this website! I hope you like it!  
> Title and Chapter Title are from William Congreve's poem.

**_Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,_ **

**_Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned_ **

_(spoken by Perez in Act 3, Scene 2, The Mourning Bride (1697), William Congreve)_

* * *

 

There were many rumours about Ise Nanao’s Zanpakuto, because so few had actually seen her use it. She actively favoured kido and since she was better at it than most of the Kido Corps, no one found it strange.

On the few times that she had fought with it, it had been noted to be a tantô rather than the usual katanas, and that it appeared to strengthen her kido even in its sealed state.

The people who had seen her shikai could be counted on one hand with fingers left to spare.

Yadomaru Lisa, the Eight’s former fukutaicho, and Kyoraku Shunsui, its current taicho. They were the only one to know her sword’s name. Her taicho was the only one left alive to know that she had achieved bankai, and the only one who truly knew why she rarely ever used it.

Because of the fact that she never fought with a sword, many had written Ise-fukutaicho off as a paper-pusher with decent kido abilities, but no real combat capacities. Some even thought that she had never managed Shikai and that the reason she had been promoted was either her skills with paperwork… or, for the crudest of them, her skills in the bedroom.

The Eight division members knew better. While they loved their Captain, they all knew that she was the one to be feared, and the one who kept them all afloat. They had seen what she could do with her bare hands, a fan, a book, kido and a sealed sword, and they were of the opinion that, while they loved and respected their fukutaicho, she was already dangerous enough without adding shikai in the equation, thank you very much!

They knew she could do it, and they prayed to gods they would never have to see her use it. Because it would mean that they were well and truly screwed.

* * *

Yadomaru Lisa had been the one who had recruited Nanao into the Academy after finding her standing in the middle of a blood-soaked clearing with the remains of a pack of Hollows around her.

She had been five at the time.

Lisa had been the one to take her shaking frame into her arms and tell her that everything would be alright. The one who, upon learning that she had no family had sponsored her admission in the Academy and gifted her with the reiatsu-limiting glasses because she had been a literal beacon for hollows. The one who had been there for her not a week later, when her Zanpakuto had awoken and terrified her. She had been the one to beat the Kido-corps recruiter black and blue for trying to poach her away from the Eight upon graduation.

At the time, Lisa had been her everything. Not really a mother-figure, but certainly a beloved older sister, the one constant in her life. Her banishment had broken the child Nanao had been. 

* * *

Kyoraku-taicho had stepped up then, to prevent her from giving in to the madness. He had been the one to tell her what had happened to Lisa and the one to bear the brute of her anger as she unleashed her blade for the second time in her short life. He had been the one to hold her tightly as she raged and sobbed after he had disarmed her, comforting her despite the damage she had inflicted upon him. He had been the one to calm her down when she realized what she’d done and the one to promise her that no one would ever know unless she wanted them too. And that he would do his best to never leave her. 

From then on, he had always been by her side. To make sure she wouldn't have to use her sword often, he'd gone out of his way to teach her even more kido and hand-to-hand. To make sure her soul didn't break from rejecting the zanpakuto, he had forced her to meditate and actually talk with her partner, eventually negotiating a arrangement that pleased both parties. As long as she kept talking to her zanpakuto, and trained with it regularly, it would not interfere. Kyoraku-taicho was her only zanjutsu training partner from then on, having already proven that Katen Kyokotsu could keep it in line. And while Nanao was still terrified of her own powers, she had slowly grown able to control it.

Kyoraku-taicho was the one to give her the reiatsu limiting hairclip for her eleventh birthday. Her power had grown too much to be hidden by the sole glasses.

After Lisa's exile, he had become her constant, her anchor. Oh, he drove her crazy half of the time, but she trusted him more than anyone else. She had never considered him a father or brother, though. She had never really put words on their relationship. He was there, and that was enough.

Of course, since she was neither blind nor asexual, she knew he was a very handsome man. And probably a very skilled lover. Puberty had been hell, even if the ever stoic Nanao had never allowed anything out of the ordinary to be seen. Control was everything to her, so of course when she realized that she'd gone and fallen in love with her captain, she had locked those feelings up in the deepest part of her soul and thrown away the key. She relied on him too much, needed him too much to risk everything because of ill-advised feelings.

When she had officially been named fukutaicho - much to the surprise of her division, who thought that she'd already been it for the last fifty years or so - she had had a moment of panic. For her promotion to be valid, three taichos had to vouch for her mastery of her shikai. And that was not something she was ready for.

But Kyoraku-taicho had cashed in a few favours and both Ukitake-taicho and Shiba-taicho had agreed to vouch for her, no question asked. 

* * *

 Life had gone on, and Nanao had fallen into a comfortable routine of paperwork, patrol and arguments with her captain. They still trained together once a week, in the secret training grounds Urehara had built under their divisions a few decades back as payment for a lost bet. It was known only to the two of them and Ukitake-taicho, who had been there when the bet was made and lost.

* * *

 And then the Ryoka invasion happened, and her taicho had openly sided against the Captain-Commander for the first time in his life. She hadn't even needed to think about it before following him. He was doing what he felt was right, and she happened to agree with him.

The Soutaicho terrified her. The amount of pressure he had let loose would have killed many of the weaker shinigamis, and knocked out the seated officers, in a five kilometre radius. He had been so blinded by his anger that he hadn't cared about those who would be caught in the crossfire.

She had done her best to shield them with her own reiatsu, but doing so without taking the limiters off - there hadn't been time for it - had left her vulnerable. Yamamoto had nearly strangled her, and the only reason she hadn't lost consciousness (and been rendered unable to protect the other shinigamis) was thanks to her taicho's quick thinking.

Her sword had been furious. She wanted Yamamoto's head on a pike and she wanted it now. It had taken days for Nanao to stop visibly shaking in the commander's presence. Not out of fear, as the man had assumed with disdain, but out of repressed rage that he would knowingly endanger the lives of his subordinates.

Kyoraku-taicho had upped their training sessions from weekly to nightly in order to help her cope with both her anger and her sword's.

When the Captain Commander had refused to allow her to join them in the fake Karakura town, Kyoraku had campaigned to put her in charge of Seiritei's defences, knowing that she would be able to do the most good there, but furious that the old man would keep her out of the fight because he believed her to be weak.

She knew she was the most suited person for this task, but the fact that she wouldn't be there to watch his back infuriated her. Aside from Hinamori - who she suspected would find a way to the battlefield anyway - every other lieutenant was going. Even Tousen's and Gin's were allowed to fight but she wasn't because the old pyro doubted her strength. She already foresaw an official evaluation once this mess was over, and it pissed the five of them (Nanao, her sword, her taicho and his swords) off.

So when she saw Kyoraku-taicho fall to Aizen's attack on the screens of the command centre, she saw red and, for the first time in her life, there was no one there to calm her down.

Her fury was, as were all of her emotions, tightly controlled. So no one in the room noticed anything amiss until she calmly put her third seat Enjii in charge along with the firsts third seat Yoderu and disappeared before they could react. Without opening any kind of portal that they could see.

* * *

 "What the...?!"Yoderu swore while his counterpart had paled significantly and was currently shaking slightly. "What the fuck is going on with Ise-Fukutaicho? Has she finally lost it?!"

"Kyoraku-taicho was cut down by Aizen" Enjii brought out shakily.

"Yeah I saw that but..."

"You don't understand!" Enjii snapped angrily as he watched his division's second-in-command appear in the fake Karakura Town on the screen of the monitor. "Ise-fukutaicho drew her Zanpakuto! She NEVER takes it out! The only one who's ever gone up against her sword is taicho, and one of his first orders when anyone joins the division is to run away and hide should she ever draw it! And he was fucking serious!"

"But she never uses it. She's just a kido practitioner" Yoderu pointed out derisively. "Why should you be scared of her sword?"

"Just a kido practitioner?" Enjii snorted as he went back to watching the screens. "She's the best goddamn lieutenant in the entire Seiritei! She left only once she was sure we would be alright without her, and after putting so many contingency plans in place that my head hurts just thinking about them! She should never have been kept behind in the first place! Her place is with taicho! Just because the commander is too blind to see how strong she is!" he muttered angrily, watching on the monitor as his fukutaicho reappeared next to their downed captain. “The only reason she hasn’t taken the captaincy test is because she doesn’t want to. She’s happy in the Eight, being Taicho’s second.”

“… She has bankai?”

 


	2. Like Love to hatred turned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ise Nanao surprises a lot of people... and gets a horrible surprise of her own.

**Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,**

**Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned**

_(spoken by Perez in Act 3, Scene 2, The Mourning Bride (1697), William Congreve)_

* * *

 

Nanao reappeared in front of her downed captain, healing kido lighting the fingertips of her left hand, her sword held tightly in her right.

“Nanao-chan” he breathed heavily, coughing up blood.

“Sir, you need to rest” She protested, but he went on, making sure he could be heard by the few taicho’s who were still conscious.

“I wasn’t sure you’d gotten my request for back-up”

Kami, the idiot was taking responsibility for her abandoning her post!

“Permission to fight, sir?” She asked even as she worked on his injuries.

**_Are you in condition to stop me should I lose control?_ **

“Granted. Permission to use Shikai and to take your glasses off.” He responded calmly.

**_If you need me to, I will._ **

Though his swords might not stop hers should it go after the captain-commander.  Katen Kyokotsu was pissed at not being allowed to use bankai.

Nanao looked into her captain’s eyes to check that he was not lying about his physical state, and slowly nodded. The healing kido that she had been applying to him faded as her hand reached for her glasses. Slowly taking them off and folding them, she handed them to him.

“I’ll be taking these back later, so don’t you dare mess with them” she warned lightly.

**_Don’t you dare die on me._ **

“Don’t worry about it” he smiled back.

**_I won’t. Just come back. Everything will be okay as long as you come back._ **

She took a deep breath, feeling energy flooding her body in a way it hadn’t in years. Using it to appraise the battlefield, she took note of everyone’s position. Yamamoto was down with multiple wounds and burns, but still conscious. Most of the other captains weren’t that lucky and, with the exception of Kotetsu Isane and a few other members of the fourth who had stayed away from the fight, all the vice-captains were down. Komamura was heavily wounded, but apparently he, Hisagi and Kenpachi Zaraki had managed to kill Tousen Kaname. Ichimaru Gin was nowhere to be seen, but his reiatsu was close to Matsumoto’s. It appeared that he had tried to shield her from Aizen’s last attack. Figures. She had known the man would never willingly betray Rangiku, but she would still give him hell later for making her best friend cry. Ukitake Juushiro and Unohana Retsu were moving towards her captain and the only other captain left standing, Zaraki, was busy with the left-over Arrancars and the army of minor hollows that were making a nuisance of themselves. Aizen’s last attack hadn’t differentiated between allies and enemies. Kurosaki Ichigo, the ryoka who had prevented Kuchiki Rukia’s execution, was currently keeping the man busy, but he was clearly struggling.

A group of semi-familiar spiritual energies caused her to take a double-take. Shiba Isshin, the former taicho of the tenth who had been missing, presumed dead for over twenty years. Urehara Kisuke, Shihouin Yoruichi and Tsukabishi Tessai. And the ones affected by the Hollowfication process. Hirako Shinji. Sarugaki Hiyori. Ushoda Hachigen. Aikawa Love. Otoribashi Rojuro. Muguruma Kensei. Kuna Mashiro. And Yadomaru Lisa.

Their reiatsu was a mix of Hollow and Shinigami, just like the ryoka’s, but it was obvious that they were in control, even with their mask on.

* * *

 

She pushed the wave of emotions that tried to swallow her as she realized her mentor stood in front of her down as she turned away from her captain to face the wannabe god who was looking at her curiously after blasting the orange-haired teen away.

“Ise fukutaicho? I would have thought that oaf would have done everything to keep you from the battlefield… Not that it would have mattered in the long run, but still. Someone of your caliber shouldn’t butt in situations where they are so heavily outclassed.” He mocked. “Your only combat ability is you kido, and it won’t do you any good against me.”

She ignored him for now, focusing on the surprised gasp from Lisa when Aizen had identified her.

“Sempai” the current lieutenant of the Eight division called out, voice extraordinarily calm in spite of the situation. “Please make sure no one tries to do anything stupid.”

Lisa was about to protest, but it died in her throat when she noticed the absence of glasses and the unsheathed sword in her hand. Paling slightly, the older woman started to bark orders at the rest of the Visored.

“Gather the injured in a make-shift healing station and put the strongest barrier you can think of!” she yelled. “No one goes anywhere near any of them unless I say so, got it? Carrot-head, that means you too!”

Shinji looked like he wanted to protest, or at least demand an explanation, but apparently thought better of it when she glared at him.

Ignoring their antics, Nanao drew her sword to eye level.

“ ** _Walk through the shadows to the edge of night,_**

**_Deprive those who sinned from even the starlight,_ **

**_Unleash Darkness, Akumu No Joō”_**

 Shadows erupted from her blade, swirling around her, expanding quickly to cover the battlefield.

“Aizen is our only target” she reminded her zanpakuto. “Don’t touch anyone else. Not even the commander.”

“ **You’re no fun at all!”** The sword complained, before glowering. “ **But since he’s the one who hurt what’s ours, I agree. Let’s make him SUFFER”**

“You dare to raise your sword against me?” Aizen laughed, not even worried… until Nanao suddenly struck to her left, exactly where he had reappeared while his illusion was talking. She hadn’t even looked at him.

“Your tricks have no power here, Aizen Sousuke” She stated calmly even as his sword pushed against her. “For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom as great — you have no power over me.”

A ball of plasma hit him straight on as he was unable to block.

“ ** _Come out to play, Akumu No Joō”_** Nanao whispered, and humanoid shades appeared around her. Their only visible features were their sharp, shark-like teeth as they grinned maniacally, and the black swords in their hands.

* * *

 Akumu No Joō, the Nightmare Queen, was a Darkness and Chaos type. It literally stole the light away, along with small amounts of the enemy’s reiatsu. Against an illusion-type, it was one of the best possible match-ups. Shadows already covered Aizen’s sword from when he had blocked her attack, blocking any new illusions. She didn’t expect it to last long, not with the gem helping him, but it would be enough to at least slow him down and limit his range of attacks, and to give the others time to regroup and heal. She was already feeling the mental strain of holding back her blood thirst as Akumu No Joō happily chased Aizen around, a multitude of cuts appearing and disappearing on his mutating body while Nanao watched, unmoving from her place in the shadows.

Each drop of blood was absorbed by the darkness and straightened it, unnoticed by Aizen even as he finally managed to push enough reiatsu through his word to free it from their grasp. Illusions would still be useless, but at least its edge was sharp once again.

Surprisingly, at least to Aizen, this only caused the shades to laugh. They loved it when their opponents fought back, their blood only tasted sweeter when they did.

Some of them had already grown bored of him and had gone after the remains of his army, gleefully tearing them apart. Nanao ignored them, knowing that if she focused on the expression of her bloodlust, she would lose it completely and join her sword in its rampage. Instead she kept her eyes on her primary foe, and that was the only reason she saw what happened next.

Infuriated at being played with by her shades, Aizen unleashed a powerful cero, which destroyed three of them, immediately followed by a second that tore through the air where her shades had been and flew towards Ukitake, Unohana and Kyoraku, the formers trying to carry the later to the Visored’s barrier. Shunpo was out of the question with his injuries.

It happened too fast for her to react, and the cero tore a hole through her captain’s chest.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Err... don't kill me?  
> I'll try to have the next chapter out in a few days.  
> #SorryNotSorryForTheCliffhanger


	3. Nor Hell a Fury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nanao becomes even scarier... and Aizen learns the error of his way... with pain. With a lot of pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I know, it's a day late. But cats happened, and kittens :(

**Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,**

**Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned**

(spoken by Perez in Act 3, Scene 2, The Mourning Bride (1697), William Congreve)

* * *

 

 

A mere millisecond later the strongest barrier kido she knew had formed around the three of them, but it was already too late. The damage was done and she felt more than heard Ukitake’s anguish as Unohana’s reiatsu flared up.

Aizen barely evaded the fire and plasma balls she threw his way with an enraged roar.

She could barely feel her captain’s reiatsu now, and what little she sensed was fluctuating rapidly.

“My my, what an interesting reaction” Aizen mocked. “And here everyone thought Ise-fukutaicho had a heart of stone. Does it angers you, Nanao-chan?” He sing-songed, ducking to avoid the new wave of kido as the shades regrouped around him, somehow even darker then they had been.

With a quick shunpo, Nanao was beside the barrier she had encased the three captains in, leaving her zanpakuto to keep Aizen busy. A quick spell, and a warded corridor leading to the Visored’s medical ward was set up.

“Do not let anyone leave the barrier, no matter what happens!” She told Ukitake firmly, through her eyes mirrored her fears. “Not until my sword is sheathed. Unohana-taicho… Please take care of Taicho. I leave him in your hands.”

The healer barely acknowledged her plea, and she turned back to Ukitake.

“I have no idea what taicho told you about my zanpakuto, but you might need to restrain me afterwards. Yadomaru-sempai will probably need to help you. It usually takes Katen Kyokotsu at least shikai to reign us in when I lose control.”

She reached behind her head for her hairclip and gave it to the pale taicho. “Give it to him. And tell him I’m sorry, but I’m going to disobey a direct order.”

With a flash of shadows, she was gone before he could answer. She reappeared before Hachi’s barrier.

“Sempai.” She called. Lisa was there before she finished the word.

“Ise! What the hell is going on? Is Kyoraku-taicho…”

“Unohana-taicho is working on him. I am going to try and end this, sempai. I will try my utmost to keep control, but you might have to step in. I already warned Ukitake-taicho.”

“Na-chan…” the childhood nickname slipped, unbidden, from Lisa’s lips. “Are you sure?”

Nanao nodded, her hair whipping around her face, unrestrained.

“You know my power. I don’t want to hurt anyone other than Aizen, and he’s going to  _pay_. If… If you can’t reign me in… If I don’t make it, please keep an eye on taicho. Don’t leave him alone again.”

“Na-chan!”

But she was already gone, joining her doubles in a deadly dance of shadows, blades and kido, her reiatsu all-encompassing.

* * *

 

“ ** _Feast on the blood of those who betrayed,_**

**_Let their souls pay for the pain they caused”_**  Her voice chanted, suddenly clear over the sounds of clashing swords. “ ** _Bankai, Akumu No Joō”_**

Immediately, the shades disappeared while the darkness around the fighters deepened, going from smoke-like fog to pitch-black in less than a second.

“Bankai? You are full of surprises, Nanao-chan”

“Only one person may call us that” Nanao growled. “And you are not him.”

She had disappeared into the darkness now and Aizen, despite being augmented by the Hōgyoku, couldn’t detect her. At all.

Not even when the first blade cut off his sword-arm, shadow flames cauterizing the wound before he could regrow it.

Not even when another strike deprived him of his other arm in the same manner, except that he actually  _felt_  the pain this time. In his head, he could hear the gem shrieking in pain and absolute terror, nearly overwhelming him with its desire, no,  _need_  to flee as far away from this monster as possible.

But before he could do anything about it, a sword pierced his chest in the exact spot where the gem laid.

Excruciating pain engulfed his entire being as Nanao slowly faded into view in front of him, one hand holding her zanpakuto, the other lit with kido – healing kido, he noticed despite the pain, and it confused him until he realized that she was healing him only to hurt him even more and, for the first time in his life, Aizen Sousuke felt fear.

 

“ ** _Feast upon his blood_**

**_Burn his soul to ashes_ **

**_Let pain follow him forever more_ **

**_As you send his carcass to Hellfire’s door”_ **

Nanao chanted softly, but it still resounded upon the fake town, heard by all who were still conscious, heard over Aizen’s tortured screams.

And suddenly, it stopped. Darkness receded somewhat, retreating around Nanao like smoky serpents, and the traitor’s maimed remains dropped unceremoniously to the ground in front of her.

* * *

 

Everybody stared, silent, at the woman who had just singlehandedly ended the war. They hadn’t been able to watch most of the battle, but they had heard everything. The barely conscious Captain-Commander was quickly re-evaluating the young fukutaicho’s strength. The Visored gaped, as did the few Shinigamis still standing.

Out of all of them, only three did not look relieved. At all. Urehara was the first to make a move, stepping out of Hachi’s barrier and towards her, only to stop immediately as her head whirled around, energy crackling around her, eyes as dark as the abyss. Anger hummed in her reiatsu.

“ **This is all your fault**!” she seethed, her voice echoing weirdly. “ **If you hadn’t insisted on creating the damn thing, this would never have happened!”**

Dark tendrils lashed out at him, and he barely got out of their way, bringing out Benihime to block the ones he couldn’t dodge.

“Na-chan! Stop!” Lisa yelled, shunpoing towards her, only to be stopped by more dark tendrils. “It’s  _over_! You won! Taicho will be okay, you need to calm down. C’mon kiddo, get yourself back under control!”

But that was obviously the wrong thing to say.

“ **Don’t! You lost the right to call me that when you abandoned us!”**  Nanao-bankai hurled at her as their swords clashed. “ **You left! You promised you wouldn’t, but you did anyway! We would have protected you! Helped you! Taicho was strong enough! Why did you leave?!! _You broke Taicho!_ ”** she screamed, half raging, half sobbing. “ **Do you know how many times he tried to drink himself to Death? Do you know how many times he went off on his own against too many enemies and came back alive, but with eyes that told everyone he would rather not be? No you don’t, because YOU. WERE. NOT. THERE!”**

Each word was accompanied by a powerful blow that Lisa barely managed to block, despite using both her mask and her sword. Damn it. She wasn’t going to last long at this rate, and her shikai would be of no use in this situation. Worse, she could already feel Nanao’s body begin to be overwhelmed by her own reiatsu. At this rate, her former protégée would implode in a few minutes. Ukitake wouldn’t be able to help, Kenpachi was too hurt and Unohana too busy with the many injured. And Hachi was splitting his focus between keeping everyone inside the barrier and trying to heal Hiyori.

Nanao’s famed control was long gone, as was her grip on her emotions. Something told Lisa this was the first time since her exile that the young woman allowed herself to be that expressive. And she understood her anger, really she did, but this was dangerous.

“I know Na-chan, and I’m sorry, but you need to release your bankai! Your body is at its limit! I promise you, you can pound me into the ground later if you wish, but right now you need to power down!”

But words couldn’t reach the berserk fukutaicho anymore. Kido sparked in existence around her, colliding with Hachi’s barrier, corroding the first few layers. Both Lisa and Urehara were thrown back by a pure reiatsu blast, colliding painfully with the ground.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, anyone who saw the latest chapter of the manga please tell me you're freaking out too. What. The. Hell? If they killed him, we're going to have problems. Especially if Mayuri Kurotsuchi doesn't bring him back. But no matter what, this is the perfect opportunity for Nanao to come and avenge SHunsui and show everybody just how strong she is.  
> Argh. When is the next chapter coming out?


	4. Like a woman scorned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Shunsui saves the saviour of Soul Society from herself... And Nanao renders Unohana-taicho speechless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys and gals. Sorry, it's been a while. The Paris attack hit me hard, a lot of my friends were there that week-end, and then Brussels, where I've lived the past four years before my exchange to Canada this semester, went into terror alert too, and I had trouble focusing on writing. Then the last few Bleach chapters brought me a lot of confusion, and between all that and the work I have to do for college, I just haven't found the time to type this chapter.

**Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned,**

**Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned**

(spoken by Perez in Act 3, Scene 2, The Mourning Bride (1697), William Congreve)

* * *

 

Nanao couldn’t hear, couldn’t see. She was angry hurt confused scared and in pain, in so much pain, thousands of thousands white hot needles piercing her skin and blasts of lightning flowing through her nerves while her blood burned in her veins.

She was going to die and if it stopped the pain then she would welcome Death like an old friend. But she was scared because that power was going to explode out of her and it would hurt everyone and…

Strong arms wrapped themselves around her screaming and shaking frame, ignoring the uncontrolled blasts of kido, a warm, familiar reiatsu cocooning her, slowly overwhelming hers, reigning it in, but not forcing it back into her because at this point reabsorbing it would kill her.

She could feel a hand in her hair and barely hear a voice, familiar, familiar, constant soothing safe safe safe telling her to let go, that the fight was over, that everything was going to be just fine, everyone would be okay.

Tears were streaking down her face, wetting the black fabric of his uniform, but the man didn’t seem to notice, running his hand gently through her hair, his other arm holding her tightly, refusing to let go even when she grew frantic in her fear of hurting him.

Her limbs went limp and she collapsed against his strong frame, fingers unclenching from her sword, finally allowing it to fall to the ground, eyes closed tight.

Her head landed on his chest, just over his heart, and his voice was in her ear.

“Breathe with me, Nanao-chan. Breathe. In and out, sweetheart, in and out, that’s it…”

* * *

Slowly, she managed to synchronize her breathing with his. In and out, in and out, slowly bringing her reiatsu back under control. Her bankai was still active, but she needed to be in control to dismiss it. Voice hoarse from all the screaming, she whispered against his chest.

“ ** _The battle is behind, my home is ahead_**

**_And that is the path I chose to thread”_ **

Painfully, she retracted her reiatsu, returning her sword to its sealed state. Now she only had to deal with the overflow of no-longer limited spiritual energy. Only.

She took a deep breath, ignoring the tears still running from her eyes and, focusing on the strong presence around her, started to channel the excess energy into the ground. Despite her closed eyes, she knew the fake town was rebuilding itself around them. Sure it would be destroyed later on, so it might be useless to repair it, but it had been the only thing she could think off to use it up.

The warm reiatsu enveloping her helped, directing stray bursts into the ground as well, and a few minutes later Nanao managed to lock down her powers once more.

Only then did she allow herself to open her eyes, though she couldn’t see beyond the strong chest she was pressed against.

“Taicho” she whispered hoarsely.

“Shh” he shushed her gently. “I am fine. You did good, Nanao-chan. You won, and everyone is going to be okay.”

“I…” She was shaking. “Lisa-sempai? How is she? Did… did I…”

“She’s doing just fine. Nothing but a couple of bruises, and they are already fading thanks to her hollow. Urehara’s okay too. I think you shocked everyone good, though” he smiled, and though she couldn’t see his face, she could definitely hear it in his voice.

“I’m sorry taicho. I… I lost control and disobeyed a direct order…”

At this, he weakened his hold slightly, just enough to force her to look at him.

“You protected everyone, Nanao-chan. You did nothing wrong. Now come on, I want Retsu to check on you.”

She tried to walk on her own, but quickly found that there was no strength left in her body. He had been the one holding her upright for the last few minutes.

Despite the absence of her limiters and all the reiatsu she had been emitting, she was now dangerously low on spiritual energy, having been unable to reabsorb the one she had expelled during her fight. It had grown too unstable, and her overuse of kido had strained her body to the point that she hadn’t been able to reclaim even a fraction of it.

Knowing her own limits, but also all too aware that he had been grievously injured moments before – even if someone had to have healed him – she refused to be carried, but accepted the shoulder to lean on.

“Taicho… your injuries…” she murmured as they hobbled together towards the healing station Unohana and Hachi had set up behind his barriers.

“Retsu and Inoue-san took care of the worst of it.” He told her honestly, knowing better than to try and lie to her about his physical health. “Retsu will have to finish the job once this is all over and all the worst cases have been stabilized, but it’s no longer life-threatening, sweetheart. Katen Kyokotsu are pretty pissed at me though, and have already promised to pound my sorry behind into the ground once I’m fully healed.”

Nanao shivered slightly. “I using my Bankai was bad enough. There is a reason you never use your Bankai in public, and it’s certainly not laziness.”

Shunsui rolled his eyes. “Yare yare, Nanao-chan. The girls are angry that I lost without going all-out, true, but they’re even angrier about the fact that you had to fight with everything in your arsenal because of that, when we promised you we would everything to prevent that.”

The young woman startled at that, surprised, and her confusion only grew when she felt a tendril of reiatsu brush against her mind, conveying a vague feeling of guilt and apology. She quickly identified the dual signature as her taicho’s zanpakuto and looked at him in surprise.

“Told you” he winked at her as they reached the medical station.

* * *

The fourth had taken over now that the battle was done, and the usually meek division was a force to be reckoned as they bullied some of the most stubborn shinigamis in the history of Soul Society into getting treatment.

Many low-ranked and non-seated shinigamis had come with the captains and lieutenants to the fake town. Their task had been to take care of the hollow army Aizen had prepared while the higher ranks fought and the fourth set up their field station. Many Soul Reapers had died during the fight, and many more had been injured. The worst cases had been brought to a separate corner under the care of Unohana-taicho, Kotetsu-fukutaicho, the ryoka with the rejection powers, Inoue Orihime, and the former lieutenant of the kido corps, Hachi the Visored.

Said worst cases included, but were not limited to, the captain-commander, Komamura-taicho, Ichimaru-taicho, Soi-Fon-taicho, Hinamori-fukutaicho, Hitsugaya-taicho and Sarugaki Hiyori, also one of the Visored. The latter two had nearly been bisected, and Inoue and Hachi were both working hard on healing them. Really, it was a miracle they had survived at all. Isane was slowly working on Yamamoto-soutaicho’s injuries and burns while her captain was checking on the other’s conditions after finishing up most of the emergency treatments when they entered the tent.

The chief healer immediately came over to them, though she certainly did not rush, and ushered them towards one of the cots.

“Please lay down, Ise-fukutaicho” she ordered.

“Ano… I am unhurt, Unohana-taicho, it’s only reiatsu depletion, I will be fine…”

The glare the healer gave her, and the slight push of her own captain, saw her quickly comply with the request.

“I will be the judge of that. Shunsui, do sit down too before you reopen your injuries and ruin all of our hard work”

The captain of the Eight was many things, but a fool he wasn’t. He sat down and watched as the healer activated a green kido around her hands.

“Third-degree kido burns on your hands… it’s a miracle you were able to hold your sword, let alone use it as you did. Your circuits took quite the beating, it will be a while until you’re allowed to use even low-level kido of any kind. You should be alright without your limiters for a few days, but I would recommend using at least one while you’re sleeping to prevent you reiatsu from acting up. You strained most of your muscles, so no strenuous activity for at least a week. And while I won’t keep you in the fourth once we get back to Seiritei, I want you to rest, Ise-fukutaicho. You depleted your reiatsu down to six percent. Had it gone any lower, you would be in a coma right now!” She scolded. “Shunsui, you need rest too, instead of giving Ise-fukutaicho any reason to chase you around!”

She paused as she focused on the damaged reiatsu veins.

“I was impressed, though, Ise-fukutaicho” she spoke again. “While I knew you were stronger than you appeared, despite what some of my moronic colleagues might think, I had no idea you had achieved Bankai yet.”

Nanao shifted uneasily.

“It is not something I advertise, for obvious reasons. My zanpakuto is quite bloodthirsty, and my control is limited, making me a liability to my allies. It also places a heavy strain on my body and on my reiatsu, which is why I rarely use it.”

She felt her taicho reiatsu gently brush her own, and she twisted her energy in return.

“Taicho was the only one who knew I had achieved it, and the only one who manages to reign us in when I lose control.” She still couldn’t believe the idiot had done it in his current state, and without drawing his swords! She shivered when she thought about how close she had come to hurting him, and once again she felt his comforting reiatsu embrace hers.

“You two do complement each other very well” the healer noted. “I’ve rarely seen such reiatsu compatibility. Shunsui’s energy isn’t even interfering with my kido. It really is no surprise that you would complement each other so well on the battlefield as well as out of it.”

Shunsui smiled and Nanao blushed, but neither denied it. Ever since Lisa’s banishment, they had kept a… a connection of sort, open between them, always aware of the other’s presence sometimes even communicating through it. The few times they had had to close this connection, usually because of missions or secret meetings, both of them had been miserable and irritable.

Nanao had never felt more alone than during those times, often barricading herself in their shared office, curling up on the couch with his favorite pink haori he always left behind during such missions.

Nanao had thought that it was perfectly normal to be so attuned to one’s taicho until Rangiku had asked her how she always knew where to find her taicho. Her friend had had a field day upon learning that they literally carried a piece of each other at all time.

They had cut off the link before he left Seiritei, upon his insistence, to protect her from the backlash should he be seriously hurt or, heaven forbid, die.

“The Fourth’s barracks have been readied for a huge influx of patients” Nanao quickly changed the subject. “Every Shinigami able to use a healing kido or tie a bandage has been assigned to your division until further notice. The kido corps have quadrupled the barriers around your division and are now reinforcing Seiritei’s protections as well. The Twelfth has been busy unleashing their creations in the forms of traps altered to Hollow and Arrancar reiatsu while the Eleventh patrols the walls. The First is their back-up. Second, Third and Seventh divisions are patrolling Rukongai to prevent any entry through that part of Soul Society. The Sixth is policing the Seiritei itself with the help of year five and six Academy students. Fifth and Ninth are protecting the real town under the Tenth’s watch. Half of the Eight is helping the Fourth while the rest are either keeping the youngest recruits, all divisions confounded, busy planning the victory party, or organizing holding cells for eventual prisoners. The oldest are setting up a morgue should it be needed. I’ve left Eight Division’s third seat Enjii and First Division’s third seat Yoderu in charge when I left.”

She ignored the flabbergasted looks she was receiving as she reported to Unohana and Kyoraku. But she couldn’t quite ignore Ukitake’s query about why his division hadn’t been mentioned.

Turning her head to face him, as much as her position allowed her to – Unohana’s glare had dissuaded her from sitting up -  she looked at him and stated, the way one would say that the sky was blue:

“They are assigned to the Fourth, of course.”

“Every single one of them?” The white-haired captain’s eyes widened.

“Naturally.” Nanao paused. “You _do_ know that every shinigami in your division undertakes a week-long healing course with the Fourth when they join, do you? And that they repeat the process every three years or so to keep their skills sharp?”

“But… but… why?” the man asked, confused.

It was Shunsui who pointed out the obvious.

“Er… maybe because they worry about you and want to be able to help you should you have an attack? Besides, their survival rates have gone up ever since they started enforcing that about a century or so back. It was Kiyone-chan’s idea I think, and with Kaien-kun’s approval Isane-fukutaicho helped to organize it. Nanao-chan implemented something similar in the Eight when she became my second, which is why half of ours are also at the Fourth.”

Ichimaru Gin, who was currently cuffed to his bed with reiatsu suppressing shackles, and bandaged like a mummy, let out a small chuckle.

“Aizen never stood a chance against you, did he, Ise-fukutaicho? Had he managed to beat us all and travel back to Soul Society, he would have landed straight in your web, tangling in it long enough for you to finish him off. Scary ~”

Nanao frowned and twitched her fingers reflexively, wishing she could send a kido blast at him. But a sharp tap against her fingers from the healer currently working on her burns vetoed that idea. Instead, she settled for glaring at him, and was pleased to see him actually flinch.

“Remember that next time you’re about to do something that will make Matsumoto cry.”

Point to her, she thought with glee when he tried to put some distance between them.

“While I am thankful for the help you sent my way, Ise-fukutaicho, why are you reporting to me?” Retsu asked, eyebrow raised as she finished her treatment for the moment.

Nanao brought her attention back to her.

“Because you are currently the acting Captain-Commander, Unohana-taicho” she stated, surprising most of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, SPOILERS for those who haven't seen the last few chapters of the manga:
> 
> SQUEEEE! Shunnao is now officially canon, guys! Her sword has been revealed, she's fighting side by side with Shunsui, and we're getting a lot of background information on the two of them. Not all of it is very clear, I admit, but I think we can safely say that she is not Shunsui's niece as the timeline would not fit. (for more hypothesises and theories, check the Bleach part of my tumblr: http://stereden.tumblr.com/tagged/Bleach : I've also gone through the manga and wikia to make a few assumptions about the timelines and the ages of the characters)
> 
> What are you thoughts on the manga? What did you think of Nanao's sword? And Shunsui's bankai? I was somewhat disappointed that he was ready to give up, but then it gives us the opportunity to see Nanao in action, so...


	5. When someone is going through a storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Unohana-taicho is quite upset with one of her patients, and in which the Eight Division is probably the best in all of Seiritei (though we might be slightly biaised)

**_When someone is going through a storm,_ **

**_Your silent presence is more powerful than a million empty words_ **

_(Thema Davis)_

* * *

 

_“While I am thankful for the help you sent my way, Ise-fukutaicho, why are you reporting to me?” Retsu asked, eyebrow raised as she finished her treatment for the moment._

_Nanao brought her attention back to her._

_“Because you are currently the acting Captain-Commander, Unohana-taicho” she stated, surprising most of the room._

* * *

“Yamamoto-sama is incapacitated at the moment, and you are the most senior officer." She went on "The closest candidates are Kyoraku-taicho and Ukitake-taicho, but you outrank them both by a couple of centuries. Article 379, paragraph 8, alinea 3 of the Gotei 13’s code of conduct states that, should the Soutaicho be incapacitated, you are to take over until such a time that he is deemed fit to take up his duties again or a new Soutaicho is decided upon by the zero division. The Central 46 have nothing to say on the matter as it is considered a war-time appointment. Under these circumstances, deciding power falls on the Soutaicho, to be overridden only by the zero division.”

The room froze as Unohana’s spiritual pressure spiked, and she glided over to where her second, the only shinigami unaffected, was still working on the soutaicho’s burns.

“Enough, Isane. They are non-life-threatening now, and maybe the pain will serve as a reminder of why it is not a bright idea to keep such vital information from me” she growled.

She took a deep breath before reigning in her reiatsu.

“Right. Thank you for your report and your amazing job, both in the field and in the protection of Soul Society, Ise-Fukutaicho. I will make sure you are properly rewarded for those arduous tasks. Do you have a way to contact Enjii-san? Please inform him that we will soon activate the return device and to have people ready to transport the wounded to my division. Isane, please inform everyone to prepare for departure. The ryoka and the Visored will come with us. It is high time something is done about them. Kurotsuchi-taicho, I want a transmat ready to _safely_ bring everybody back ready in twenty-five minutes, and don’t even think about pretending not to have bugged this place, which we _will_ have words about once this is over!” She snapped. “Nanao-san, once you have contacted Enjii-san, you are officially on medical leave until further notice. Shunsui, you are too and I trust you to make sure that she does not overextert herself! I will be busy at the Fourth for a long while, and the rest of your reports can wait until later. Once we arrive, I want you to get back to your division and get some sleep, Kami knows you deserve it after what you’ve done lately.”

Nanao wanted to protest, but her captain had grabbed her hand, squeezing it slightly, before promising that he would take care of her. She briefly thought about the pile of paperwork that would be waiting for her after this mess, but the throbbing pain in her fingers reminded her that there was no way she would be able to hold a brush or a pen in the near future, and she sighed in agreement.

“Good. Now stay here until Kurotsuchi-taicho swaps us back with the real town, I need to make sure all of my patients will survive the trip.”

 

* * *

 

 

And with that she walked towards the back of the tent where Orihime was still working on Toshiro, leaving the two leaders of the Eight to their own devices. Nanao sighed as she tried to take off her lieutenant badge with her bandaged hands, but her captain untied it and handed it to her. With a grateful smile, she twisted something behind the plate.

“Enjii-san?” She spoke softly into the device.

“Ise-fukutaicho!” came the relieved answer. “Are you okay, boss? Is taicho with you? Is he okay? The camera shorted out just after he was hit by Aizen and everyone here is frantic!”

“Calm down, Enjii-kun” Nanao chided gently. “Both of us are alive and while we are both going to be on desk duty for a while, our injuries are no longer life-threatening.”

“Thank Kami!” her third seat cried out. “Did you get the bastard, boss? Was it your bankai that shorted out the visual?”

Nanao stilled, turning to glare at her captain.

“Yare, yare, Nanao-chan!” He defended himself. “I didn’t tell anyone about it!”

“It wasn’t that hard to guess, boss. Taicho went down while you were already in shikai, your reiatsu spikes massively and the last image we’ve got is you chanting something before your reiatsu spikes even more and breaks the cameras. The twelfth is furious about that, by the way. They apparently calibrated the things so that they would technically hold up to the soutaicho’s bankai if he wasn’t going all out. Point is, you didn’t raise no idiots, boss. So, did you?” the over-eager shinigami repeated.

“The traitor is dead” his lieutenant stated firmly. “The war is over and we have won. We lost many unseated troops that had been brought to fight the normal hollows, but all lieutenants and captains are alive, though some have suffered heavy injuries, including Yamamoto-dono. Unohana-taicho is currently the acting-commander. We will be swapping places with the real town in approximately twenty minutes. Please make arrangements to have transport ready for a high number of injured and warn the fourth.”

“On it boss!” A far more cheerful Enjii responded before yelling towards what Nanao suspected was the rest of the command center “We won! Ise-Fukutaicho got rid of the bastard!”

Cheers went up in the background, and the lieutenant sighed. Of course. By not denying it, she had confirmed Enjii’s suspicions’.

“Language, Enjii-kun” she chastised.

“Inform the division that there will be a debriefing tomorrow evening” Shunsui added. “Nanao-chan and I are officially on medical leave and under strict orders to get some rest as soon as we arrive in Soul Society, so we’ll need you to mind the fort a little longer.”

“Got it taicho. Victory party is ready, we only need Unohana-taicho’s approval for the date. The rookies are preparing the lanterns” he added in a quieter tone. “For the homage ceremony. By our estimate, around three hundred out of the five hundred that were sent to the fake town and Hueco Mundo had lost their lives before the cameras in your area shorted. We don’t have the exact figures yet.”

He paused, and the crinkling of kido could be heard as he activated a voice relayer.

“This is Command to all divisions: Aizen Sousuke, traitor to Soul Society, has been killed by Ise Nanao, fukutaicho of the Eight division. Attention division ten, five and nine: the fake town will swap back with the real one in ten to fifteen minutes. There will be many injured that will need to be brought to the Fourth ASAP. Division four, prepare for influx. Neither the captains nor the lieutenants have suffered any losses, though many are heavily injured, including Yamamoto-soutaicho. In accordance with article 379, paragraph 8, alinea 3 of the Gotei 13’s code of conduct, Unohana-taicho is currently the acting commander. Remaining divisions, please continue with your current duties and make sure no one tries to use the situation to their advantages.”

Nanao heard the kido being dispelled and spoke up.

“You did a great job, Enjii-kun. I apologize for leaving you in the lurch earlier.”

“Boss, we all knew that keeping you away from taicho in this situation would only result in disaster” Enjii stated matter-of-factly. “There was a bet going on about how long you would wait before going out to watch his back. Thanks to you, the division’s account have acquired quite an additional padding. Besides, this plan was yours – by the time you left, everything was done and the only thing left to do was wait. So stop worrying about us and get some rest, or I _will_ send one of our healing squads to forcefully sedate you.”

Nanao gaped at their subordinate’s assertion while Shunsui laughed heartily, before wincing when the movement hurt his ribs.

“You want me to stop worrying? Enjii-kun, you do remember who our taicho is, right?” She snapped half-heartedly. “Keep this up and you will be on clean-up duty after the party. Now get back to work!”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” The officer cheekily responded, before dropping his voice somewhat, suddenly serious. “All joking aside… I’m glad both of you are okay, Boss, taicho. And I speak for the entire division when I say that.”

And he cut the connection, leaving the two heads silent for a few moments.

“I think the Eight division is probably the best in all of Seiritei” Shunsui stated quietly. “though I might be slightly biaised.”

"It's home" Nanao whispered, staring at the badge in her hands. "And family"

* * *

 

They didn't say anything after that, silently basking in each other's reiatsu - more Nanao than Shunsui, her reserves being pretty much depleted. She, laying on the bed, he sitting on the nearby chair, her hand gently held between his, careful not to press on the bandaged kido burns.

Around them, the fourths healers were running ragged, securing patients, making sure they wouldn't be hurt during the trip back and that they weren't going to try to escape during the confusion that was sure to follow. Which was why every member of the Eleventh division was either sedated or covering in fear of Unohana, who had made it clear that her patience for idiots was thinning.

Even Kenpachi was somewhat behaving, but that had more to do with the fact that Unohana had threathened to paralyze him from the neck down if he didn't.

Then the alarms signalling the countdown to the transportation sounded, and everyone froze.

There was a bright light, followed by a resounding sound of thunder, and suddenly it seemed as if the ground was rotating at extremely high speeds, shaking and groaning as it did so.

Nanao was grateful to be lying down, and even more from the strong reiatsu shielding her from the worst of it.

And then everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> My applogies for the lateness of this chapter. It has been quite a few months, hasn't it ? 
> 
> RL was hectic during that time. It seems to be slowing down some, so I'll try to type up the rest of this story now that I found that particular notebook again, but then it'll be time for that monster of a masters thesis that's coming up.
> 
> I have a few other Bleach stories in the work, as well as a Doctor Who one, a One Piece one, and a Naruto one. But no clue when I'll find the time to type and post any of them...
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! Two more to go!


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